As environmental concerns and regulations become more rigorous, the cost and difficulty of dealing with accidental spills and discharges of liquids, particularly hazardous chemical liquids, becomes greater and greater. Small manufacturing operations handling liquid chemical products are unlikely to have accidental liquid spills of a magnitude to cause a potential environmental disaster, but nevertheless they are under obligation to provide as clean and hazard free a working environment as possible. They often do not have the resources to invest in complicated technical spill avoidance and control systems, nor to engage specialist outside operators to handle the problem should an accident of this type occur.
With this greater emphasis on spill control, a significant business has developed in the manufacture and supply of absorbent materials to such companies. These are commonly in the form of sand-like materials, made from clay, booms, oil socks, cellulose, absorbent pads and the like, held in readiness at the site of potential accidents. Any one manufacturing operation may need to stock a variety of different such materials, depending on the variety of liquid chemical materials being handled by the plant.
One problem associated with the use of such absorbents is that the absorbed liquid, which may be quite valuable, is generally not recoverable from them. Another is the on-going high cost of these consumable items. A further, and perhaps the most serious, problem with their use is that it creates yet more unwanted waste material, of potential harm to the environment when discarded.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel means and apparatus for picking up liquid spills from floor surfaces.
It is a further object to provide such an apparatus in small, conveniently portable form, for location and convenient use at a variety of locations in a chemical liquid handling plant.